Straight Arrow
Well-known member
Strong points, cur dog. Where are you from?
Crossbows and trapping, again
- Thread starter Oak
- Start date
JM77
Well-known member
Interesting and controversial topic. If anyone has doubts about what crossbows in archery season do to big game seasons, look no further than Wyoming. Yes, it's been mentioned that crossbows have been legal during archery for forty years here. As crossbows have developed, so has the compound bow. Archery seasons remain relatively unchanged. In fact archery opportunity may be better than ever.
What's strange to me is the argument many of you use that crossbows give someone an "advantage". Apparently long range rifles, suppressors, high power scopes, range finding bow sights, and many other technologies give some hunters advantages over others. And?
Why not set a standard for archery season allowing only real stick and string? Seriously, what makes the standard for what is allowable for archery season? In Wyoming it is a string propelled arrow. Seems to work just fine here.
What's strange to me is the argument many of you use that crossbows give someone an "advantage". Apparently long range rifles, suppressors, high power scopes, range finding bow sights, and many other technologies give some hunters advantages over others. And?
Why not set a standard for archery season allowing only real stick and string? Seriously, what makes the standard for what is allowable for archery season? In Wyoming it is a string propelled arrow. Seems to work just fine here.
wyoelkfan15
Well-known member
I agree with the B.S. range
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
@JM77 apples to oranges. WY doesn’t have OTC archery. It also does not allow muzzy in archery season.
I believe OTC crossbow is a problem for a number of reasons. Allowing crossbow with a muzzy tag which is limited, and overlaps archery season... totally fine.
I’m on the fence about allowing them during limited archery seasons...
I believe OTC crossbow is a problem for a number of reasons. Allowing crossbow with a muzzy tag which is limited, and overlaps archery season... totally fine.
I’m on the fence about allowing them during limited archery seasons...
D
Deleted member 18333
Guest
Well someone better tell the G&F because for the past 10 years I have bought an elk tag and archery license over the counter at Sportsmans.
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
For NR?
Part of the problem of comparing CO to WY is scale... comparatively there aren’t many elk hunters in the field in WY at any given time.
CO has more NR elk hunters than WY has total elk hunters.
Given the all the differences between the states two management strategies I don’t think you can assume one variable in one state will have the same effect in the other.
Recently CO just removed OTC archery from the SW units and went limited. This was partly due to over crowding, I don’t think anyone can say for certain if allowing crossbows during OTC archery would or would not demonstrably effect crowding.
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JM77
Well-known member
Your concern is NR with crossbows?
AggieHunter
Well-known member
I would just like to see Colorado stick to handheld bows and only allow crossbows for medical exceptions. Keeps it more true to being an archery season.
D
Deleted member 18333
Guest
I agree. No certainty either way. All you can use is BAI and make decisions. I believe using Wyoming's 40 years of xbow use is a pretty good example of what to expect. Not perfect but better than using peoples personal feeling about xbows or their operators to make the decision. Which is far to often where these decisions are made.
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
My concern is that CPW manages our herd for max participation not trophy quality or experience. The whole goal is to get the maximum people safely into the field.
The limited seasons are controlled by quotas, eg muzzy and limited archery hence my position on crossbows in those seasons.
The OTC seasons are unlimited and have a R V NR allocation of around 55/45 split.
I think unlike WY in CO you have to consider what new methods of take will do to participation rates and how that effects crowding and herd health.
BuzzH
Well-known member
Here's one to think about...how do you think the guys that started the archery seasons felt when compounds began to dominate the archery landscape?
Think of the concessions they've made. They went from literally 2 wooden sticks and a string to wheels, pulleys, cables, not a stitch of wood in compounds, arrows, or anything else. Sights, releases, expandable broadheads, stabilizers, carbon arrows, etc. etc. etc.
Now the compound guys, shooting a weapon that doesn't even resemble what the intent of archery seasons are...want to cry about allowing crossbows in their "archery" season...cry me a river.
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
I think the 40 year history actually does the opposite as it’s been in effect so long and the harvests with crossbows are baked into the system if you will.
What the WY example doesn’t tell us is what happens when you add in a new method of take to an established system.
Personally I’d be more interested in a state that introduced crossbow hunting in the last 5 years that has OTC NR hunting. Maybe a back east state, not sure who has... let’s say for example PA did (I have no idea if that’s true). Did PA see more participation in their system? How much, what happened to harvest rates? Did a bunch of folks who sat out of the archery season previously because they didn’t have the time to practice jump in?
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D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
Good point I bet they felt the exact same way... and I think “modern archery equipment” is the reason CO has lost lots of OTC opportunity. I’ve hunted archery/muzzy/ and every rifle season in CO in “OTC” units. My experience was archery season was the most crowded, by far.
For the record I am agnostic to method of take I hunt rifle, muzzleloader, and have started archery hunting with a longbow. I don’t own a compound bow or crossbow.
My concern is focused on 1. Herd health and 2. Hunter experience/Hunter opportunity
Crossbows are great for getting kids off video games and out hunting when the weather is nice. 8 years old and up. They help seniors extend their hunting careers also spending time afield when the weather is nice in fall. Yes they improve hunter participation
AggieHunter
Well-known member
I agree with this but don't think you would see many youth that young hiking around OTC units like wllm1313 was talking about. See more effect probably on private land hunting for Colorado.
Pelican
Well-known member
Why wouldn’t verticle bows, air rifles, or firearms be as equally great for getting kids off videos games? Seniors or anyone else with a disability can legally use a crossbow already in CO. Muzzy season overlaps archery here and 1st rifle is generally still warm weather.
Archers (traditional and compound both) are very much united in opposition to cross bows in archery season here. If cross bows work in your state, good for you, but that’s not a compelling reason for CO to do the same.
My exact thoughts!
I am not sure how to answer but I have seen young kids a few miles from the road in Wyoming and Colorado.
Let the kids use them it just adds more options and opportunity & possible days afield
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
Bottomline for me, CPW is already discussing going fully limited and/or breaking archery into separate specific seasons like our rifle seasons.
We are already on this path, these kinda of proposals are just throwing gas on the fire.
Sportsman want crossbows, that’s fine but then don’t be surprised when in 2026 you have to apply in the draw for your archery tag and have to select either 1st or 2nd archery and a specific unit.
Super excited for this ^ inevitability and for every CO elk draw thread there after to be replete with "CPW just broke up the seasons to make more money"... "Elk is just their cash cow, not surprised they keep screwing us". No one is going to be saying... huh... I guess if we keep improving success rates and opportunity to a finite supply of animals (and we aren't figuring out how to put more animals on the MT) we will necessarily need to put offsetting restrictions in place.
“...The marvelous advances in technique made during recent decades are improvements in the pump, rather than the well." -Aldo Leopold
We are already on this path, these kinda of proposals are just throwing gas on the fire.
Sportsman want crossbows, that’s fine but then don’t be surprised when in 2026 you have to apply in the draw for your archery tag and have to select either 1st or 2nd archery and a specific unit.
Super excited for this ^ inevitability and for every CO elk draw thread there after to be replete with "CPW just broke up the seasons to make more money"... "Elk is just their cash cow, not surprised they keep screwing us". No one is going to be saying... huh... I guess if we keep improving success rates and opportunity to a finite supply of animals (and we aren't figuring out how to put more animals on the MT) we will necessarily need to put offsetting restrictions in place.
“...The marvelous advances in technique made during recent decades are improvements in the pump, rather than the well." -Aldo Leopold
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